Whatever it is, it's better in the wind…

Harley-Davidson CEO And CFO Sell Stock After Indian Launch

On Friday, August 9th, three days after the Indian launch, the Harley-Davidson Chief Financial Officer, John Olin sold 11,104 shares of HOG stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.00, for a total transaction of $655,136.00. Following the transaction, the CFO now directly owns 12,702 shares in the company. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, at this link.

Just a couple of days later Harley-Davidson CEO, Keith Wandell sold 77,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.82, for a total transaction of $4,535,139.64. Following the sale, Mr. Wandell now directly owns 70,545 shares in the company. Those stock options must be working out for him as he now owns three motorcycles; a Street Glide CVO 2011; Road King Classic; and Dyna Wide Glide.

Well-heeled Riders

As is often the situation with an executive selling stock it was likely in the pipeline for weeks prior to the actual sale.

But, after the Great Recession began, the lingering impact of the worst downturn in a half-century continues to deplete the standard of living on the middle-class American household. Let’s face it, the big factor in the market for anything expensive nowadays is that the only people who have disposable income are the super-rich… and THEY have more of it than anyone has ever had in all of human history.

Sure it’s become trite to slam the rich and I’m trying not to be repetitive.

But, it’s not about being ostentatious: the super-rich don’t care about impressing the rest of us, because they never see us. They glide from the gated community to the private jet to the island vacation home without encountering any “downscalers.” They mix exclusively with the other super-rich, and those are the only people they care about impressing.

And that’s tough, because when you’ve got enough money to buy about anything that’s ever been made without a second thought, you have to realize that the guy living next door to your McMansion can buy it too. So, you’ve just ordered a one-off custom color CVO with a turquoise ostrich-skin seat with matching hand-made gloves and boots? He’ll give it a glance and say, “Not bad. I think I’ll get a couple for my kids to use when they’re home from prep school.”

So, if really you want to one-up your neighbors by owning something they can’t, your choices are restricted to items with a built-in limited supply, such as art works, and a U.S. Congressmen. Or in keeping with a narrower interpretation of that custom motorcycle style genre, just minimize the amount of tchotchkes on that bone stock H-D motorcycle.

Simple is the new chrome and when your well-heeled fellow riders guffaw, you just have to learn to smirk in a superior way and say, “I guess you don’t grasp the irony…”